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Vermont celebrates 40 billboard-free years
—Posted by Tim Nudd Down With Billboards By Steve Simpson
Billboards should not exist. They block views of neat pastoral cows, hills and barns in the country and fine old brickwork in the city. They seldom have a vocabulary of more than six words. And they entice you to buy whiskey when you’re really just in the neighborhood to buy bail bonds. No, billboards are blunt, simpleminded and loud -- blights on the landscape, visual and intellectual pollutants. So, just when you’ve decided that in a saner world, billboards would be banished, you spot from a block away a lime-green iPod board -- and you immediately congratulate yourself on being a connoisseur of both industrial design and music (are 10,000 songs really enough to reflect my protean tastes?), and then comes the second thought: Is my iPod charged? Or perhaps you’re driving in Sonoma, and while it would be good for you spiritually to drink in the photogenic vineyards, you don’t mind seeing one of the Clover Dairy boards, with one of its loopy puns: “Tip-toe through Clo’s lips.” And although art school taught you to hate the vulgarians who puff their messages into 800-point type, the thought crosses your mind that maybe that Altoids board was better art-directed than the strip mall it was blocking. And while you’d never use art and advertising in the same sentence, you have to admit that some of the Mini Cooper boards have a kind of “installation” quality to them. Not that Alex Bogusky needs any more praise. Of all forms of advertising -- all of which is an imposition and ought to have the decency to be entertaining or at least interesting -- outdoor advertising has the most to apologize for and the fewest ways to do it. It has to make an impression with an absolute minimum of elements. A few words, a simple message, a tastelessly large logo or product shot. The bad is as bad as it gets. But the good is consistently, surprisingly good. For years, it’s been the democratic medium in which a quirky museum or a budget-busted zoo could stand right up next to, and outwit, a multinational marketer. And it’s where big marketers can boil down a message that even muddle-brained middle brand managers can’t bloat. Outdoor advertising also gives a kind of street credence and instant relevance to brands that maybe no other medium can. Lately, one of our clients, the famously modest engineers of Hewlett-Packard, has begun appearing in outdoor in a big way, taking over all 160 boards in a subway station, running 15 minutes of content on an electronic board in Times Square, even posting 750-word art histories on a construction wall outside London’s National Gallery. And as a result, HP seems bolder, more current, more surprising. Not that the ends justify the means, of course. Billboards should not exist. There, it’s settled. All right-thinking people agree. Just don’t go anywhere you might see an iPod board. It might make you weak. Because some billboards are really good, even if they are really wrong. |
Comments
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if we all stand still no one will get hurt, will they.
dont answer that. I shouldn't have asked it.
THAT MAKES ME WANT TO DO A SNOOPY DANCE FOR JOY.
:)(:
Posted by: Nancy | Jan 16, 2008 11:59:22 AM
They're obviously advertising beef.
Posted by: Tim | Jan 16, 2008 12:07:52 PM
I want to visit Vermont even more now!
Although roadside billboards in countryside areas are rare here in the UK I do hate them when they block a decent view even in the city. Especially when they're advertising butter or something that we all know exists anyway...
Posted by: minxlj | Jan 16, 2008 12:14:42 PM
What's wrong with billboards? They give you something too look at. Who wants to see trees, trees and more goddamn trees for 5 hours?
Posted by: Bobby | Jan 16, 2008 1:32:15 PM
Ask any good copywriter or art director which medium they'd choose if they could only do one for the rest of their lives.
Posted by: Bob | Jan 16, 2008 2:23:45 PM
I heard in Spain they have no-billboard laws, but advertisers get around it. The bull silhouettes you see on the countryside is advertising, but since they say is "art", not billboards, they can stay where they are.
Posted by: Somebody | Jan 16, 2008 2:48:48 PM
I moved to Alaska last year. They have no outdoor here either.
The problem with outdoor is the same problem with any medium- people hate the stuff that sucks. If only we could legislate good and bad advertising....
The only two markets I know that have consistently good outdoor are LA and Atlanta. It's competitive, which makes for a good environment.
Posted by: ad_scribe | Jan 16, 2008 3:48:35 PM
Hey, compare the two ends of Indiana I65
jeffersonville and gary
well that billboard mogul does live here, doesn't he?
Probably to wake you up after driving through the rest of the state.
Also compare kansas to missouri.
Posted by: Nancy | Jan 16, 2008 4:29:02 PM
Border counties have a different agenda than the heart of the state. The northeast has such small states, they are practically counties.
Posted by: | Jan 16, 2008 4:31:55 PM
Billboards that mar otherwise unspoiled scenery should be banned. Billboards in already-marred areas should be required to be conceptual enough to elevate the feel of the surroundings. Most clients (and the hack agencies they buy off) treat billboards like a big piece of paper where every last bit of space is just more area to cram mindless info.
Posted by: Schrodinger's Copywriter | Jan 16, 2008 5:08:44 PM
Thanks Ted Riehle -- and also thanks to Lady Bird Johnson for her role in the precursor "Highway Beautification Act-1965" regulating billboards, etc. on federally-aided highways.
Posted by: | Jan 16, 2008 5:24:54 PM
Bobby, whatever happened to states' rights? Clearly, the fine folks of Vermont would rather stare at trees. And vote for socialists.
And that's their right.
Posted by: yikes | Jan 16, 2008 7:29:48 PM
"Ask any good copywriter or art director which medium they'd choose if they could only do one for the rest of their lives"
---Well, that's different. I'm sure most would choose TV because #1. You get to travel. #2 You get to spend hours in comfortable editorial houses. #3 You get to participate in the casting. #4 You get free lunches. #5 You get to fill like a director. #6 Actors kiss up to you.
Billboards on the other hand, do provide a nice ego boost when you see your own.
Posted by: Bobby | Jan 16, 2008 7:30:43 PM
[...] Did you know that there are no billboards in Vermont? I didn't, until I read a great AdFreak post today about the Green Mountain State's law [...]
Posted by: Anthony Juliano | Jan 16, 2008 8:36:14 PM
Take a trip and get hungry. How do you know what is at the exit 20 miles down the road? I know some of you will say "those blue logo signs" but you need to understand those lean toward national recognized logos of large chains, and give preferred treatment to a business closest to the interchange. Now, if you stop at Restaurant X, then drive 20 miles and find your favorite restaurant.
If you want a scenic view ride, take the back roads not the interstates. If you want to take a scenic view ride on the interstate, you are being distracted by the view and could have an accident.
Posted by: Don | Jan 17, 2008 11:04:06 PM
"Bobby, whatever happened to states' rights?"
---Are you saying vermonters voted for this or what this imposed by their "we know better than you" people in office?
If vermont wants to lose millions of dollars in advertising revenue, that's their burden.
Posted by: Bobby | Jan 21, 2008 5:17:55 PM
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Posted by: Zirmzizes | Apr 10, 2009 6:44:55 PM
